By Chris Vaccaro
One of Marques Colston’s favorite quotes is, “God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.” Colston and some of his fellow Hofstra gridiron brethren will be making their journey towards the biggest stepping stone in their lives, one which will cleanse their athletic personas in a whole new light.
It has been their life long dream to play professional football, and this weekend at the NFL draft there is a good chance two former Hofstra football players will be selected.
Colston, who broke the Pride’s career receiving yardage record, and Willie Colon, one of the fastest growing offensive tackles on the draft board, will be anxiously waiting for their names to be called at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
For Colston, his ambitions and goals have always been to play in the pros. As for Colon, his biggest thrill was playing college football, and even the thought of entering an NFL stadium was not on his mind until the later stages of his career at Hofstra.
“I thought it was a long shot and had a big senior year,” said Colon, who is getting looks from a tremendous amount of NFL teams. “I didn’t think about going to the NFL in my career. A lot of important people told me I can play at that level, and now I can’t see myself doing anything else but playing football.”
Colon would love to get drafted, and on many mock boards he is slated to be chosen in the fifth round. He is keeping positive and mentioned someone from an NFL scout web site who said his stock was rising the fastest among offensive tackles from lesser-known schools.
Colston jumped into the lime light with impressive play at this year’s East-West Shrine Game in January, notching five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, and came within two yards of scoring a game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left. His agent, Mike Clouser, whose offices are based in Harrisburg, Pa., said Colston wouldn’t make any statements before the draft, but did say he is looking for him to be selected somewhere in the late third or early fourth round.
“The Jets are showing a lot of interest in him,” Clouser said. “We’re hoping to get about seven or eight wide receivers off the board [before he gets picked].”
This would leave Colston in a cushy area to still be selected in the first four rounds. Once 10 to 15 receivers get selected, anything can happen with the later picks.
Former Pride head coach Joe Gardi said he has received many calls from different teams about his prospects. One from Dan Henning, the offensive coordinator from Carolina, was pleasing.
“You get so many different vibes,” Gardi said. “It’s hard to get a read on what he did at the combines. I heard he did well, and then I heard he didn’t.”
After running a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February, a decent time for a 6-foot-4 receiver, Colston’s stock remains steady.
“He’s sort of a unique pick,” Clouser said. “He does have some good measurables in height, weight and speed. The big question mark is comparing him with the bigger schools.”
Some scouting agencies speculate Colston will have early trouble adapting to the higher level of talent after only seeing Division I-AA skill for the past few years. He will probably take most of training camp to adjust to professional rudiments.
Clouser, who also represents former Hofstra receiver Charlie Adams, said the Texans, Ravens, Steelers and Eagles were also interested in Colston.
No NFL staff members returned messages regarding either player.
The Jets have the 33rd pick (97th overall) in the third round, while Pittsburgh picks right before with the 32nd selection. Houston has the first pick of the fourth round, so that puts three teams interested in Colston all close to one another.
Colon admits his biggest dream was to play college football, but since that was accomplished, his new endeavor is to don an NFL uniform.
He has worked out with the Steelers, Jaguars, Cardinals, Dolphins, Jets, Eagles, Bengals and Lions, and said every session was different.
“Some are more about teaching to see how you adjust to different things,” Colon said. “I’m used to the two point stance, but a lot of teams play in three point stance, that was my biggest adjustment.”
For a 6-foot-3, 315-pound tackle, his footwork and size are good, and his willingness to learn the game is tremendous.
Colston had 975 yards on 70 receptions and 5 touchdowns this season, breaking the all-time Hofstra receiving yardage mark with 2,834 career yards. He is second on the team in career receptions with 182, and holds the single game receiving mark with 267 yards in a game against Liberty in 2003.
This season Colon was an All-Atlantic 10 first team selection, a first team I-AA All-American selected by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Walter Camp Foundation, and a third team Sports Network I-AA All-America pick.
Both players will be at home on Draft day, Colston in Harrisburg, and Colon in the Bronx, waiting for the next chapter in their life to begin.
ON THE GRIDIRON
A handful of other graduated Pride players are seeking free-agent contracts from a variety of NFL teams. Wide receiver Devale Ellis, tight end Brandon Sebald, who won a National Championship with the University of Miami in 2001, defensive tackle Ed Green and defensive end Stephen Bowen are all likely to sign as free agents shortly after the draft.
Gardi said he received calls from Indianapolis mid-way through the season about Ellis. Their concern was his punt catching ability, something he had trouble with during the season, but would need as an attribute to make up for his lack in size.